How to use your body to soothe your mind.

Calm Practice

Focus Switching

This powerful practice can train our ability to switch our focus and discover which type of mindful focal point works best for us.

Here’s how!

1. Notice a niggle or (physical) pain in your body or an uncomfortable emotion you are experiencing, or practice by creating some physical discomfort in your body (eg. a toe sit).
2. Focus on the feeling of discomfort. Notice thoughts, emotions, and sensations. Allow yourself to place judgments. You may think “I don’t like this feeling” or “I want this to be over.” This can mirror the way we often respond to discomfort in life. Stay here for 30 – 60 seconds.
3. Switch your focus to compassion. Continue to feel the discomfort, but now breathe into it. Imagine your inhale wrapping the discomfort with love. Repeat to yourself “I allow this feeling to be here,” “This will pass,” or “I send love and kindness to this sensation. Stay here for 30 – 60 seconds.
4. Switch your focus to an area in your body that feels safe and neutral. Give all of your attention into this place, noticing how it feels and gently moving to this area. Stay here for 30 – 60 seconds.
5. Switch your focus to the external world. Look around the space you are in and notice objects, colors, textures, and light. Tune into the sounds around you. Stay here for 30 – 60 seconds. 
6. Get comfortable and take some time to reflect on this experience. Which focus point was the most uncomfortable? Which focus point gave you the most peace?

Begin to practice switching your focus with tricky or challenging emotions, memories, or thoughts that arise in your day-to-day life.

 

 

 

 

 

Reference

Ballagh, R. (2024). Focus Switching. 101 Ways to Find Calm: How to Use Your Body to Soothe Your Mind. P. 24-25.